Tag Archives: hormel black label bacon

Gentle Readers, who knew there was so much variety in the bacon world? Tasting so many back to back was very instructive. But this task is not for the faint of heart. My partner in crime, Improv Cook, and I took it upon ourselves to taste the first 8 contenders in one day.

Have you hugged your bacon today?

That’s correct, we ate at least 8 pieces of bacon apiece. Wow. That was a lot of bacon. I’ve been working out double-time in an effort to complete the Sweet Sixteen. And the water consumption went way up after that little extravaganza. But enough delay, let’s roll the tape:

Never fear my vegetarian friends who have read this far, I’ll be doing a whole series on vegetarian dishes and salads coming soon, by double request. Do you suppose there’s a connection?

The Results for Bacon Brackets, Grocery Store EditionWe were shocked at the outcome, here they are in order:

2. Oscar Mayer Uncured Bacon: moderate salt, more smoke on the backend, chewy but not unpleasant, good for BLT or pancakes, thinner than Wright. This bacon was a dark horse, and we were both surprised how much we liked it. NOTE: This bacon had a great texture if you like thinner, crunchier bacon, but I found the smokey aftertaste too strong. $6.99 12 oz

Oscar Mayer Uncured Bacon: 2nd Place in the Grocery Store Round!

3. Hormel Black Label Hickory Smoked Bacon: Thicker, not much shrinking, salty but not overly so, more bacon taste, more chewy than crispy, better beside pancakes than in a BLT. $4.49 16 oz

Hormel Black Label is often a gold standard for bacon, but not here.

4. NOT RECOMMENDED: Smithfield Hickory Smoked Bacon: Thin so it burns quickly if you’re not watching (or you’re shooting video while you’re cooking, just saying). Not much shrinkage, very salty, not much bacon taste (more like country ham), okay for BLT, very crispy. $3.99. 12oz

Gentle Readers, the people have spoken. Here is the Round 1, Bacon Brackets: Supermarket Style. Remember, the goal is for you to play along at home, so feel free to test these fine bacons yourself. Some themes have been emerging.

I love bacon this much. And coffee isn't half bad either.

Bacon Trends:

1. Keep it thin. I’ve seen several posts condemning floppy bacon, though thick-cut is marketed left and right as being gourmet (possibly pronounced with a hard “t”). Thick has been equated with “chewy” and generally unpleasant. Who knew?

When in doubt: bacon is the answer.

2. Crispy rules, briquette does not. See above.

A BLT, recently ordered and consumed with glee by The Practical Cooks Junior

3. People like bacon. A given, but bears repeating.

So how do you cook the bacon? Though Cook’s Illustrated promotes the oven-baked method, which I’ve used, I have never been completely satisfied with the crispiness of the results. They advocate 400 degree oven, rotate, I think 20 minutes total. For me it worked okay, but caused a lot of smoke and heartache.

Bacon on a Baking Sheet

I like the skillet method, working in batches, draining the grease for disposal (can headed for the recycling bin) or use (glass jar). My friend, FoodEngineer, advocates cooking bacon in your cast iron skillet on the grill. Why? Because you can re-season your skillet and avoid a mess, all at once. If you’ve never cooked in your cast iron on the grill, you should try it. It’s fun and functional.

Enough with the pre-game commentary, the Supermarket Bacon Bracket is as follows:

Supermarket Bacon Brackets: Round 1

If you can’t read that, it’s Oscar Mayer Uncured, Hormel Black Label, Wright Hickory Smoked, and Smithfield Hickory Smoked. Thanks to all who submitted favorites, and there’s still a little time to submit for the other categories, listed here, so get on it.